The lack of rain in the Smoky Mountain/Blue Ridge mountains areas of Tennessee and western North Carolina have caused widespread forest fires. We finally got rain last night, but east of here, in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, a popular tourist area, wind gusts of 70 mph ahead of the rain spread the fires, and now at least 3 people are confirmed dead and 400 structures have burned, including a 16 story hotel.
https://weather.com/news/news/tennessee-gatlinburg-pigeon-forge-fire
This morning in Dollywood, a popular tourist attraction in Pigeon Forge, TN.
Here in North Carolina, we were more fortunate, because the wind gusts here weren’t as strong and the wildfires remain contained. The rain was good, but it wasn’t enough and the wildfires continue to burn. Today it was sunny and dry again, but rain and thunderstorms are predicted for tomorrow. Farther south and east, tornadoes, unusual this time of year, are a threat, and these may hit Tennessee by tonight.
If anyone in Tennessee is reading this, stay safe!
Lucky Otters Haven 
Just so, so sad. My heart’s breaking for the people, the towns, and the forests. You be careful. 😕
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Thank you. It is a terrible situation. I am praying for those affected by both the tornadoes and the wildfires.
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Hopefully there’s a silver lining in the form of some much needed rain. It’s been super dry here too, and we’ve been under a burn ban statewide since September. It’s a very dangerous situation.
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We are under a burn ban too. I don’t think we’ve had any rain since early October (until last night) Hopefully we get some more rain tomorrow and the tornadoes don’t move this way.
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Yeah, we got a really good storm last night, but looking out today, you’d not really notice. Ground just soaked it right up. A little more would be nice, that’s for sure. Especially in the Smokey’s.
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That is so scary and sad. I hope they can get the fires under control.
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I hope they do too, and soon!
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It’s amazing how widespread this is. I am almost on the coast of NC and we have had smokey days here due to the fires. Stay safe!
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Wow, that far east? I was in Chapel Hill a couple weeks ago and you could smell the smoke there if the wind was blowing the right way, but I didn’t know it traveled all the way to the coast.
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We are about an hour 1/2 from coast. Been a crazy fall! Hurricane, floods and fires
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Scary and sad. Such beautiful country. 😦
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Well, it’s raining hard and has been all day; I think the wildfires are probably under control now or have gone out. (haven’t checked but it is raining cats and dogs)
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I was looking for updates on the fire situation and found your blog … an unexpected and enjoyable find indeed!
Glad it’s been raining where you are (NC or TN? You wrote “Here in North Carolina” and then “east of here, in Gatlinburg” which puts you in TN?) and hope the fires near you are all under control now. Anyway, I found http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/ which updates fires by the hour, and gives you an interactive map when you click on any particular fire. You and your readers might like that.
On another note, it is 5:41pm EST, which makes me wonder if your time stamp above (November 30, 2016 at 9:07 pm) is a little “ahead of its time”?
As for the internal fires which you struggled with for so long, I hope you continue to find peace and healing. Take care, be well, and be blessed!
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YAY!!! That’s what so many of us have been praying for, RAIN!
Here in semi-arid New Mexico, especially on the high plains where I live, we get a lot of wind, a lot of dust storms, and a lot of wildfire driven by wind. However, in the last couple of years we’ve had a crazy amount of rain, even some flooding. A lake that dried up about thirty or forty years ago is a lake again! So now, although we still have a lot of wind storms, we don’t haven’t had dust storms and wild fire, thank heavens.
I just hope we don’t get another Goliath blizzard like we had last December. There were snow drifts around our house over ten feet high. Driving was impossible, even a big homeland security snow cat broke down trying to rescue stranded motorists. Our entire town was without electricity for 21 hours, and the hurricane force wind did not stop blowing for two days and two nights. I don’t think my nerves could stand another storm like that!
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I am in Middle Tennessee, and find the fires very heartbreaking. Gatlinburg is the “go to” vacation place for many families here. I just had a student tell me that they were planning on going there next week to snow tube. People all over the state are organizing relief efforts.
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I’m glad to hear so many have been pitching in to help the victims!
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